Cultist
Overview Cultist are units trained from the Temple of Fervus. They throw daggers at a short range and fast speeds. They also have a fast movement speed and are able to use nature based spells. At low levels cultist can die fairly quickly but also have the ability to escape from dangerous situations using their movement and the ability camoflage. Cultists can enchant hostile animals such as vargs, rocs, rats, and hell bears. When a cultist get to higher levels they are able to convert more powerful creatures such as werewolves and can even enchant daemon wood. Cultist at higher levels are extremely helpful not only because of the damage they can do but of the literal army of monsters they can convert. Official Descriptions In-game Fortune smiles on these wild children of the god Fervus, "The Face of Chaos". Unlike the brutish brothers, the Warrior of Disord, Cultists are clever adventurers using their wits as their weapon. They lead a carefree life, driven by sometimes perplexing spontaneity. Game Manual Cultists (Followers of Fervus), Chaotic Druids Cultists revel in the apparent chaos of the natural world around them. They favor using two daggers at once when melee fighting, and often throw their knives for a short ranged attack. Cultists sow the seeds of poisonous plants that can later be harvested by Rogues to provide poison for weapons. *Primary Attack: Ranged *Usual Activity: Sowing poisonous plants *Base Armor: None *Base Weapon: Throwing daggers Website Cultist, Follower of Fervus Very little is known about the odd followers of the god known as Fervus. They seem to worship all things natural but they also revel in discord and chaos. It is difficult to engage them in intelligent discourse which explains the difficulty in understanding their ways. What we do know is that they require a temple, as do all followers of the various gods. This temple will provide the Sovereign with healing powers and other spells as it is upgraded. Beginning Cultists are not very skilled in combat and have been known to occasionally steal from local businesses. As they become more powerful they gain various spells that make up for their odd behavior. It is said that the most powerful of Cultists can tame the most ferocious of beasts! For more insight into the ways of the Cultists of Fervus you can read this eyewitness account of one of their rituals. The Cultist's Tale The following is exerpted from Lord Vincent Aquella's massive seventy volume series entitled: "The Wonders of Ardania." It is used with his permission. The careful reader will note, however, that this is not intended as a manual for worship, and should not be used as such. It was on the third month of the New Year that I stumbled upon a mysterious cult-ceremony of the disciples of Fervus. I had been travelling for many months and was to begin my research into the fascinating living plants of East Cheswick when I haphazardly stumbled into a "Festival of Fervus." At each new moon, as far as I can surmise, the disciples of Fervus flock to regional temples to engage in what can only be described as an orgy of dance and song. Of course I had heard of the Madmen of Fervus. What schoolchild can honestly say they had not been frightened to bed with tales of their cannibalism? (As far as I can tell, they do not, in fact, eat newborn children. How this rumor started is anyone's guess.) Once in a great while, as I wandered through the woods, I would stumble upon a Cultist gathering wild flowers or mushrooms. In their painted dress and masks, they seem the very picture of the solitary, wild savage. In the light of the new moon the cultists began their strange dance around a pile of animal bones and hides. As the blaze grew brighter they began to chant in unison. (Curiously, cultists of Fervus refer to their deity as both male and female.) The following is an incomplete transcription of the fire chant of the Festival of Fervus. (N.B. Where I am unsure of the verse, I have marked the stanza with a question mark.) Fervus! He of the Tooth and Claw! Fervus! She of the Tangled Vine! Fervus! With your ragged fur, and moist nose (?) Fervus! With gnarled root, and scaly bark Fervus! With yellow eyes and prickly-prickly (?) Fervus! Mossy-mossy, wet and black Fervus! Firy-wiry-willy-nilly (?) Fervus! I call to you on rock and hilly! I am unsure of the rest, for it seemed to me that the chant deteriorated into random, nonsensical shouting. As the night wore on, the ring was joined by all manner of beast. Though I would have been a tasty morsel on most evenings, these beasts seemed focused on joining the chorus. Soon the night air was filled with the cries of dozens of animals. As I looked about the fire it became increasingly difficult to differentiate between man and animal. Drunk with fatigue, I succumbed to sleep somewhere near dawn. When I awoke in the midday sun, all signs of the previous night's festivities had vanished. The old temple looked abandoned and surrounded by an impenetrable thicket of brambles. As I wandered back to my cabin, I had to ask…had I imagined the whole thing? List of Charmable Creatures In no particular order... Giant Rat, Rust Spitter, Giant Spider, Roc, Varg, Hell Bear, Werewolf, Yeti, Medusa, Daemon Wood, Vendigo Strategy Tips and Character Details Cultists have low hit points so they die quickly at lower levels. However, once they gain a few levels they can become quite an asset. At level 4 they get a boost to their survivability by gaining the spell Camouflage. This allows them to become effectively invisible to the enemy as they flee the danger. At level 7 Cultists gain the Spell Shape Change. They use this in combat to transform into a Hell Bear which greatly increases their combat stats for a short time. The high strength coupled with their very fast attack speed makes them very deadly. Cultists can tame certain creatures and their Temple automatically spawns some for them to tame. A first level Temple spawns Rocs, a second level Temple spawns Vargs, and a third level Temple spawns Hell Bears. On top of this Cultists will also tame other creatures on the map as they level up. At high levels they will even be able to tame Daemonwood and Medusae which can be incredibly powerful. Another very useful feature to the Cultists is that they will often swarm attack creatures and lairs with other Cultists. So it is not uncommon for 2-4 cultists to form a "raid party" and attack. Build two or more Temples to Fervus if you want to maximize this behavior and see large groups of cultists Swarm Attacking your enemies. This results in quick deaths of even some high level monsters. It is important to note that the only building Cultists will protect are the Palace and their own Guild. If these get attacked Cultists will come running unless they are engaged in combat or in a shop. Cultists do like to respond to attack flags and this is a good way to increase the chance of a Swarm Attack. Just set a delectable price and watch the Swarm come running! Cultists often choose to Patrol creature dens, camping out and dealing with the threats that spawn from these locations. This allows the Cultist to level up pretty quickly, but at lower levels (1-3) it can also mean a quick death. Once they gain a few levels then this behavior can quickly increase their leveling speed. While they will Patrol these dens, they will not often attack the the den preferring to leave it alone to spawn its monsters for them to slay. This behavior can change provided you place an attack flag on the den you want them to destroy. One other point of interest is that Cultists have a small chance to steal gold from monster's lairs. While Rogues are far more likely to do this, Cultists and Elves can also engage in this behavior. Quotes While finding a treasure: "I have always wanted one of these!" While leveling up: "Wow, pretty star!" While charming monsters: "Here, kitty kitty!" After reaching level 10: "My soul is replenished, ha ha!" Category:Temple Heroes Category:Ranged Category:Heroes Category:Minions Category:Transform Category:Invisibility Category:Charm Category:Humans Category:Economy Category:Steal